NEW DELHI, INDIA MAY 26: Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramaniam at a press conference at North Block to brief the media on the state of the economy on the occasion of the completion of one year of the Modi government.(Photo by Vikram Sharma/India Today Group/Getty Images)

MUMBAI--Days after he warned of social divisions hurting development, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian on Tuesday refused to answer a question on beef ban saying he did not want "to lose his job".

"You know that if I answer this question I will lose my job. But thank you nevertheless for asking the question," he said while interacting with students of the Mumbai University.

He had been asked if the beef ban will have any adverse impact on the farmers' incomes or the rural economy, and his matter-of-fact reply was met with a round of applause.

The remark by Subramanian, who is on leave from the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington since October 2014, comes days after he spoke about the adverse impact of social tensions on development.

"The way you react to social cleavages has a critical impact on economic development. India is a wonderful example. What have reservations done, what have they not done, what has religion done, what has it not done, illustrate the general principle that these things have a huge impact," he had said during a lecture in Bengaluru.

Beef ban became a national issue after a man was lynched by a mob on the outskirts of the national capital in 2015 on the suspicion of stocking beef at house.